Andhra Pradesh is reportedly studying Australia’s ban on social media for children under 16, Minister of IT, Electronics, Education and Skill Development, Nara Lokesh told Bloomberg News in Davos, Switzerland.
“We are studying the law as a state, and we need to enact a strong law,” he said during the ongoing World Economic Forum at Davos. The minister said that young people under a certain age should not be allowed on social media as they don’t understand what they are seeing.
It has to be noted that several petitions have been filed in courts, seeking to tighten control over access to social media and state-level enforcement may face legal and technological challenges.
Lawyers specialising in cyber security and public policy say that it has to be looked into if a total ban on social media is possible and enforceable. “Internet works through a backbone and there are ways to circumvent IP detection,” Karnika Seth, a lawyer was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.